Here, exactly one year ago,
in operating room n°2,
in the cardio-vascular surgery centre of Broussais Hospital,
a man was given a new heart,
because his own didn't work.
This man is Father Charles Boulogne,
who is with us,
watching a surgical procedure.
Are you happy with your first year
with your new heart?
Yes. It doesn't trouble me anymore.
That's the difference, compared with the old one.
You were aware of the complications.
Did you say yes without hesitating?
Actually, I asked for the procedure,
because I considered that,
as a priest, it was my duty
to set an example.
I had nothing to lose.
It could only help others, and encourage other donors,
to follow suit, if it was successful.
I had full confidence in Prof. Dubost.
I felt very serene, in fact, I was virtually the only one.
Do you climb these stairs often?
No, I don't often have to.
But it's definitely easier now.
You don't find it tiring.
No, I climb them quickly,
so I'm short of breath, but I can't feel the heart.
The biggest fear of a heart patient are the stairs.
There's always the concern
that the slightest effort will give them trouble.
You don't have that worry anymore.
No, I don't. I have another concern though.
When I climb stairs
with patients who haven't reached this stage yet,
it's always a bit embarrassing, you know?
What is your life here like?
Well, my day starts when I wake up, of course.
I bathe.
I say Mass.
Then I am visited by these gentlemen,
for nursing care.
There are always tests to be done,
blood samples are taken twice a week,
lab tests, our progress is monitored closely.
They watch over you
like you watch over milk, on a cooker, so to speak.
What do you do in the afternoon?
In the afternoon, like many lazy people,
I take a little nap.
And lots of people visit me.
It resembles monastic life.
Yes, it does.
The specifics were unexpected though, that's for sure.
I must say that obeying the doctor
is much harder than religious obedience.
When are you going to Marseille?
Marseille, at the next opportunity.
As soon as they let me slip away,
I'm going to Marseille, to Saint-Maximin.
And I'll stop in Lyon.
We'll see.
Father, do you have a lot of mail to reply to?
Oh, yes, I do.
I wish I had more time for that.
How many letters a day do you get?
Let's say... About 15.
Who writes to you?
Friends, and a lot of strangers,
who want to express their sympathy.
They tell me that they think a lot about it all,
about their problems.
You see, many people
have heart patients in their families or circle of friends.
Do you have time to answer them all?
I try to believe that I do.
My answers are as brief as possible.
I try and do my best.
Here, let me seize this opportunity
to answer all the people who write to me.
I would like to thank them,
and apologise to them,
if I can't answer every single letter.
It isn't for lack of good will.
Are you going to write your memoirs
as a transplant patient like Blaiberg?
Certainly not.
Today, Father Boulogne is going into town.
His friend, Joseph Aurès, walks him to his car.
Joseph Aurès is a heart transplant patient too.
He was operated on by Prof. Dubost
and his assistant, associate professor Cachera,
on November 23rd.
Joseph Aurès will soon be able to leave the hospital.
Let's not get run over.
Father Boulogne's first visit
is to the Dominican monastery, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré,
where he may retire one of these days.
Come, come with me.
We have, we have...
It's been 20 years.
- Good morning. - This is Father Declerck.
ACCESS TO THE CONVENT AND CHURCH
- It's the same. - Is it?
I'll see him since all eternity.
- Has it been a long time? - It has.
I must say that...
Sometimes, they need to...
- Won't you have some? - No, I'll have two eggs.
Two eggs, no salt.
We have nuns who cook for us.
What a brilliant idea!
They feel sorry
to host a celebrity like you who won't eat.
What celebrity? You're pulling my leg.
Father, here we are in a setting more familiar to you.
When you think about the heart beating in your chest now,
after it beat in someone else's chest,
do you say: "my" heart, "his" heart?
No, not at all, really, not at all.
Everything's wired so beautifully that I can't see any difference.
The heart isn't a sentimental organ at all.
It's like an engine, a very good engine, if you will.
But it has nothing to do with all the nonsense about it.
Psychology doesn't change.
My fellow priests can still discern my character flaws.
Alas!
Nothing changes.
And your qualities too.
As to that...
You know...
Father, do you ever think
about the man who gave you his heart?
Yes, I do.
I think about him, with gratitude.
But I have to prompt myself.
I don't do it spontaneously because I don't feel the heart.
I don't feel it at all.
I need to remind myself
to realise that I owe it to someone,
whose brother agreed to the transplant.
There's something of a paradox in your story.
Maybe you could explain it to us now.
A few months ago, you began a sort of pilgrimage.
You travel all over France to share this message:
"You need to give your heart.
"Don't hesitate when it's necessary."
What has led you to preach for heart transplant?
Well, it's the experience I've had.
After my operation,
they wanted...
Professor Dubost wanted to perform other transplants.
However, he's had 16 cases where he couldn't,
because the families refused.
They imagined
that it would be disrespectful to the corpse,
to agree to the removal of the organ.
At first, I had been involved
in encouraging potential organ recipients
to agree to the surgery, as it is doable.
But suddenly, the problem was inversed.
It wasn't really the recipients, of which there were many,
it was the donors,
and family consent.
And so, I used rather crude terms,
and said that it is a crime by omission
to refuse the removal of the organ,
seeing as...
First, there's no justification to it.
From a Christian point of view,
the aim is to help, as much as possible,
even after your death.
From a human point of view,
as to the issue of respect,
it is indeed more respectful towards a corpse,
to allow the removal of a part that remains useful,
that can lead...
It will grant a life.
Better than to send it directly to the worms,
even with all the liturgical pomp you can imagine.
When you consider the life you're leading now,
and the constraints of repeated medical tests,
if you had to do it all over again,
would you?
Now, that...
That's a blunt question, my answer would be very nuanced.
I would say that not only I,
but even the surgeons couldn't foretell
that the transplant wouldn't stop with the surgery,
nor with the period
following surgery.
Maybe if I had known
how high the price to pay was...
I don't know, as a human, what I'd have done.
With the grace of God maybe.
But... I can't answer
because, you know...
It would be preposterous on my part,
to say yes, straight away.
I agreed, and so it is.
I endure it with all my heart.
Would I do it all over again?
That's something else.
And if a close acquaintance of yours
needed to receive a heart,
just as you did,
would you advise them
to go through with it and live the life you lead now?
I think it would depend a lot
on the moral potential I could see in them.
I believe that if they didn't have a superior reason,
on a strictly human basis,
they wouldn't make it, in my humble opinion.
I've made it only because I'm a priest. It's part of my ministry.
If someone asked me
what to do...
If they had morally sound and valid reasons,
family related, etc.,
I would say yes.
Father, we will see with time,
when we celebrate your second anniversary
with your new heart,
whether you'll be of the same mind.
Subtitles: T. Close-Koenig, E. Fuchs & N. Guechi